Sealing Apparatus for Creating Moisture-Resistant Barrier Around Filaments, and Corresponding Methods

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a sealing apparatus comprising a moisture barrier that engages with a filament spool to create a moisture-resistant enclosure for housing a filament on said spool, and a passageway in said sealing apparatus so that the remaining filament can exit sad sealing apparatus during use. Also disclosed is a method for preparing and packaging the filament and sealing apparatus.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates generally to the degradation of filaments over time, and more particularly to the property of filaments to slowly absorb moisture from the air around them and become unusable due to the change in properties that occurs as a cause of this absorbed moisture. When a consumer purchases certain filaments for their specific properties, especially in the case of 3D printing, the consumer must either use the filament up incredibly quickly or constantly store and remove the filament from a moisture-resistant enclosure each and every time that the filament is used, which can become a time-consuming process.

It would be useful to develop a technique for preventing moisture from absorbing into filaments over time and degrading the quality of the filaments.

SUMMARY

One embodiment described herein is A sealing apparatus comprising a moisture barrier that engages with a filament spool to create a moisture-resistant enclosure for housing a filament on said spool, and a passageway in said sealing apparatus so that the remaining filament can exit said sealing apparatus during use.

A method of manufacturing and selling is described herein where the filament spool, the filament, and the sealing apparatus are manufactured individually, fixed together, and then sold in a single filament unit.

Another method of manufacturing and selling is described herein where the filament spool, the filament, and the sealing apparatus are manufactured individually, only the filament spool and the filament are fixed, and the two are sold as separate units to be later fixed by the customer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This embodiment is an enclosure that attaches to 3D printing filament spools to create a moisture-resistant environment for the filament. This enclosure keeps the filament from absorbing moisture from the air and allows the spool to still be placed on printers and storage racks.

FIG. 1 shows an isometric view of the sealing apparatus fixed to a standard 3D printing filament spool. The sealing apparatus creates a moisture-resistant seal around the stored filament and allows a single strand to leave the enclosure without compromising the moisture-resistant barrier.

FIG. 2 is a section view of the bottom half of the sealing apparatus fixed to a 3D printing filament spool.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the standalone sealing apparatus.

FIG. 4 shows a front view of the standalone sealing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a section view of an embodiment of the sealing apparatus with a desiccant within the sealing apparatus.

FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment of a method of manufacturing and selling the filament spool, the filament, and the sealing apparatus wherein the filament spool plus filament and the sealing apparatus are sold separately and fixed together by the customer after purchase.

FIG. 7 depicts an embodiment of a method of manufacturing and selling the filament spool, the filament, and the sealing apparatus wherein they are all sold together as a filament unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One embodiment is a flexible, tube-shaped, sealing apparatus that fits over 3D printing filament spools in order to provide a moisture-resistant enclosure for filaments without having to remove them from the enclosure in order to use them. The sealing apparatus slides onto current filament rolls and snaps into place to create a moisture-resistant seal.

As used herein, the term “frustocone” means a cone with the vertex cut off to make a new rounded face. The “remaining filament” refers to the filament still inside of the filament spool and sealing apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a sealing apparatus 10 that snap fits over a conventional 3D printing filament spool 26. The sealing apparatus 10 has curves along its outer rim 18 and 20 that allow it to firmly fit over the standard filament spool, but also create a moisture-resistant seal. The sealing apparatus 10 has a passageway 40 on its surface that the feed portion 41 of the filament 42 can pass through, while still maintaining a moisture-resistant seal.

FIG. 2 illustrates the sealing apparatus 10, which has a set of curves 18 and 20 on its inner surface 16 that allow it to be pressed over the filament spool 26, while still creating a moisture-resistant seal for the filament 42 after it has been fully fixed. The filament spool 26 can contain varying amounts of filament 42 as more and more is used. The amount of filament 42 in the spool changes the distance between the floor 44 of the filament spool 26 and the filament 42 as well as the distance between the filament 42 and the inner surface 16 of the sealing apparatus. Because of this changing dimension, the passageway 40 must be shaped frusto conically or the feed portion 41 of the filament 42 would not be able to leave the sealing apparatus 10.

FIG. 3 shows the sealing apparatus 10, which, in embodiments, fits around a standard filament spool 26 with a diameter of approximately 8″, but can be varied in size to fit multiple sizes of filament spools 26. In embodiments, the sealing apparatus 10 can be configured to fit around spools 26 having diameters in the range of 1 to 20 inches, or 4 to 10 inches. The width of the band varies less between different filament spool 26 sizes, and is about 1 to 2 inches wide, but in additional embodiments can be configured to fit around spools having diameters in the range of 0.5 to 4 inches, or 0.75 to 2.5 inches. The passageway 40 for the feed portion 41 of the filament 42 creates a cone-shaped cutaway in towards where the filament 42 is stored. This conical cutaway allows the feed portion 41 of the filament 42 to exit through the passageway at multiple angles, while still creating a moisture-resistant seal for the filament 42. The conical shape of the passageway 40 is also designed to reduce friction between the sealing apparatus 10 and the feed portion 41 of the filament 42 as the feed portion 41 of the filament 42 exits the sealing apparatus 10 through the passageway 40.

FIG. 4 shows the front view of the sealing apparatus 10. The hole seen here is the outer view of the passageway 40 for the feed portion 41 of the filament 42 to exit the sealing apparatus 10. The circular shape of the exterior view of the passageway 40 creates a full moisture-resistant seal for the remaining filament 42 inside of the sealing apparatus 10, while still allowing the feed portion 41 of the filament 42 to leave through the passageway 40.

FIG. 5 illustrates a front section view of an embodiment of the sealing apparatus 10 which contains a desiccant 53 within the filament gap 50, which is the space between the outermost wrapped layer 48 of remaining filament 42 and the inner surface 16 of the sealing apparatus 10. The desiccant 53 in this embodiment removes any small amounts of existing moisture within the sealing apparatus 10.

FIG. 6 shows a method of preparing and packaging an embodiment of the sealing apparatus 10. A filament spool and a filament are manufactured and assembled together 112. A sealing apparatus is manufactured 114. The filament and the sealing apparatus are packaged separately 116. The separate filament spool and sealing apparatus are fixed in preparation for use 118.

FIG. 7 shows a method of preparing and packaging an embodiment of the sealing apparatus 10. A filament spool and filament are manufactured and assembled together 122. The sealing apparatus is manufactured and fixed to the filament spool before packaging 124. The filament spool, the filament, and the sealing apparatus are packaged together 126. The filament spool and sealing apparatus do not need to be re-fixed in preparation for use 128.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 7, a first embodiment of a sealing apparatus is shown and is designated as 10. The sealing apparatus 10 includes a moisture resistant tube 12, which has an outer surface 14 and an inner surface 16. The sealing apparatus 10 includes ring-shaped seals 18 and 20 designed for a tight moisture-resistant fit over the outer rims 22 and 24 of the 3D printing filament spool 26.

The sealing apparatus 10 includes a passageway 40 which has suitable size and shape to permit a feed portion 41 of the filament 42 to extend therethrough while maintaining a moisture-resistant barrier inside the filament spool between the filament spool floor 44 and the inner surface of the sealing apparatus 16. The space between the inner surface 16 of the sealing apparatus 10 and the top wrapped layer 48 of filament 42 is the filament gap 50 and the space between the filament spool floor 44 and the top wrapped layer of filament 48 is the remaining filament 52, ie the filament that is still inside the sealing apparatus 10. A desiccant 53 is added to certain embodiments of the sealing apparatus 10 to further reduce the amount of moisture that comes in contact with the filament 42. The desiccant 53 sits in the filament gap 50.

In embodiments, the passageway 40 is frustoconical in shape with the frustocone's truncated circular end 54 on the outer surface 14 of the sealing apparatus 10 so that the feed portion 41 of the filament 42 can exit the sealing apparatus 10 independent of the size of the filament gap 50 and the amount of remaining filament 52, while still keeping a moisture-resistant seal around the remaining filament 52. The current sealing apparatus 10 has a passageway 40 with approximately a 2 mm diameter, but can be configured to have a passageway 40 that has diameters in the range of 0.5 mm to 4 mm, or 1.25 mm to 3.5 mm. An embodiment of the sealing apparatus 10 has a passageway 40 that is 20 mm in length, but can be configured to have a passageway 40 with a length in the range of 5 mm to 100 mm, or 10 mm to 50 mm.

One version of the sealing apparatus 10 fits the most common filament spool, which is approximately 8 inches in diameter and 2 inches wide, but in embodiments, the sealing apparatus can be configured to fit around spools having diameters in the range of 2 to 20 inches, or 4 to 10 inches and have widths hi the range of 0.5 to 8 inches, or 1 to 4 inches.

In one embodiment, the sealing apparatus 10 is mounted on the spool 26 at the time of the spoors 26 manufacturing. The manufacturer for this embodiment makes the filament spool 26, makes the filament 42, wraps the filament 42 around the spool 26, makes the sealing apparatus 10, and then fixes the sealing apparatus 10 to the filament spool 26 before any part is sold to a consumer. In another embodiment the sealing apparatus 10 is mounted after the manufacturing of the filament spool 26. Here, the filament spool 26 and filament 42 are made and packaged and the sealing apparatus 10 is made and packaged separately from the spool 26 and filament 42. The filament spool 26 and the sealing apparatus 10 would then be fixed before use by the end user. In one embodiment a user buys a 3D printing filament spool 26 from one source, buys the sealing apparatus 10 from another source, and fixes the two together directly before use. After long periods of not using the filament 42, the feed portion 41 of the filament 42 absorbs moisture from the air and its properties degrade over time. The feed portion 41 can be trimmed in order to avoid using this deteriorated filament.

In embodiments, the filament is formed from a thermoplastic, thermoset, or other material that tends to absorb moisture. Non-limited examples of filaments include polylactic acid, acryionitrile butadiene styrene, and nylon. In embodiments, the filament is biodegradable.

In embodiments, the sealing apparatus is made from a rigid and transparent plastic that is able to hold its shape around a filament spool. Non-limited examples of sealing apparatuses are formed from an acrylic material or a polycarbonate material.

A number of alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art, which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A sealing apparatus comprising: a moisture barrier configured to engage with a filament spool to create a moisture-resistant enclosure for housing a filament on said spool, and a passageway in said sealing apparatus so that a feed portion of a filament can exit said sealing apparatus during use, said passageway being configured to rotate relative to said remaining filament.
 2. The sealing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the moisture barrier has two edges with seals that can be configured to be pressed to fix onto the filament spool.
 3. The sealing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the moisture barrier's edges can be pressed on one at a time so that the feed portion of the filament can be guided through the passageway before the sealing apparatus creates a seal around the remaining filament.
 4. The sealing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the passageway is a cutout in the surface of the moisture barrier with a frustocone shape.
 5. The sealing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the filament is formed from a biodegradable material.
 6. The sealing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the filament comprises at least one member selected from the group of polylactic acid, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, and nylon.
 7. A method of reducing moisture absorption by a filament configured for use in 3D printing comprising: obtaining the filament on a spool, obtaining a sealing apparatus comprising a moisture barrier configured to engage with said filament spool and a passageway in said sealing apparatus so that a feed portion of a filament can exit said sealing apparatus during use, said passageway being configured to rotate relative to said remaining filament, and mounting the sealing apparatus on the spool.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the sealing apparatus is mounted on the spool soon after the filament is wound around the spool.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the filament spool is packaged without the sealing apparatus mounted thereon, and the sealing apparatus is mounted on the filament spool in preparation for use. 